republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2020/sb-857.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Voter registration; public access not required for certain events."
description: "Voter registration; notice and public accessnot required for certain voter registration events. Providesthat voter registration conducted in a high school or at the locationof a naturalization ceremony and voter registration events sponsoredor conducted by an entity or organization that the general registraror an assistant registrar attends as an invitee are not requiredto be open to the public. Currently, opportunities for voter registrationare required to be provided at sites open to the public. The billalso provides that notice is not required for voter registrationevents that are not open to the public that the general registraror an assistant registrar attends or voter registration events thatthe general registrar or an assistant registrar attends as an invitee."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 857"
citation: "Virginia SB 857 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Adam P. Ebbin"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 37
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2020-01-08"
last_action: "2020-04-07"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/64d0cceb-f1e1-4703-928d-4369782ee213"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB857"
source_hash: "d21cbc4209cb39c6096efa83885c01470c8ca21514272f3706f1509cd2ed6582"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia SB 857 (2020) — Voter registration; public access not required for certain events.

Voter registration; notice and public accessnot required for certain voter registration events. Providesthat voter registration conducted in a high school or at the locationof a naturalization ceremony and voter registration events sponsoredor conducted by an entity or organization that the general registraror an assistant registrar attends as an invitee are not requiredto be open to the public. Currently, opportunities for voter registrationare required to be provided at sites open to the public. The billalso provides that notice is not required for voter registrationevents that are not open to the public that the general registraror an assistant registrar attends or voter registration events thatthe general registrar or an assistant registrar attends as an invitee.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0858)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0858)
2. **Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB857ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB857ER)
3. **Engrossed by Senate - floor substitute SB857S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB857S1)
4. **Engrossed by Senate as amended SB857E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB857E)
5. **Impact statement from DPB (SB857)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB857)

## Votes

- VOTE: Passage (63-Y 37-N) — **62–37** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Privileges and Elections with amendments (13-Y 2-N) — **13–2** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate (28-Y 12-N) — **28–12** (pass) · upper
- Engrossment reconsidered by Senate (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Privileges and Elections (15-Y 5-N) — **15–5** (pass) · lower
- Committee amendments rejected (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N) — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 1-N) — **5–1** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Adam P. Ebbin — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-01-08** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20103557D `introduction`
- **2020-01-08** Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-28** Impact statement from DPB (SB857)
- **2020-01-28** Reported from Privileges and Elections with amendments (13-Y 2-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-30** Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N)
- **2020-01-31** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-01-31** Reading of amendments waived
- **2020-01-31** Committee amendments agreed to
- **2020-01-31** Engrossed by Senate as amended SB857E
- **2020-01-31** Printed as engrossed 20103557D-E
- **2020-02-03** Passed by for the day
- **2020-02-05** Floor substitute printed 20107675D-S1 (Ebbin)
- **2020-02-05** Engrossment reconsidered by Senate (39-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-05** Committee amendments rejected (40-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-05** Reading of substitute waived
- **2020-02-05** Substitute by Senator Ebbin agreed to 20107675D-S1
- **2020-02-05** Engrossed by Senate - floor substitute SB857S1
- **2020-02-05** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-05** Passed Senate (28-Y 12-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-06** Impact statement from DPB (SB857S1)
- **2020-02-13** Placed on Calendar
- **2020-02-13** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-13** Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-14** Assigned P & E sub: Elections `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-18** Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 1-N)
- **2020-02-21** Reported from Privileges and Elections (15-Y 5-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-25** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-26** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-26** Passed House (63-Y 37-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-26** VOTE: Passage (63-Y 37-N)
- **2020-03-04** Enrolled
- **2020-03-05** Signed by President
- **2020-03-06** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-06** Impact statement from DPB (SB857ER)
- **2020-03-12** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 12, 2020
- **2020-03-12** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-04-07** Approved by Governor-Chapter 858 (effective 7/1/20) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/64d0cceb-f1e1-4703-928d-4369782ee213`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).